During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries crises periodically occurred in the economies of many states. The cause of temporary economic difficulties was the formation and development of industrial society. The consequences were a decline in production, an accumulation of unsold goods on the market, the ruin of firms, an increase in the number of unemployed, a fall in prices and the collapse of banking systems. But the crises of the nineteenth century were different from those that occurred in the twentieth century or in modern times. So, what characterizes the crises of the 19th century? How often did they occur, which countries affected and what were they expressed? About it further.
The economic crisis in Britain in 1825
The first economic crisis occurred in the UK in 1825. It was in this country that capitalism first became the dominant economic system, and industry was greatly developed. The next decline occurred in 1836. He covered both Britain and the United States, connected by trade relations. Then the crisis of 1847 followed, which by its nature was already close to the world one and affected almost all the countries of the Old World.
What characterizes the crises of the 19th century is clear already from this short summary of the first three economic crises in the world. Until the twentieth century, a sharp and significant drop in production, a decline in the standard of living of the population, massive bankruptcies and unemployment were not so widespread, covering, as a rule, one or two countries. Here you can also trace the frequency of crises of the 19th century. Difficulties arose every eight to ten years.
First world economic crisis
The first crisis, which can be called world, affected the United States, Britain, Germany and France. Massive bankruptcies of legal entities (mainly railroad companies crashed) and individuals, the collapse of the stock market and the collapse of the banking system began in the United States in 1857. Then, cotton consumption decreased by almost a third, and pig iron production by a quarter.
In France, pig iron production fell by 13%, and cotton consumption by the same amount. In the UK, shipbuilding was particularly affected, in this area production fell by 26%. In Germany, pig iron consumption decreased by 25%. The crisis affected even the Russian Empire, where the level of pig iron smelting fell by 17%, and the production of fabrics by 14%.
What characterize the crises of the 19th century after the most tangible that occurred in 1857? The next economic shock awaited Europe in 1866 - just nine years after the deepest crisis of those times. The main feature of this economic shock was that it was mainly financial in nature and had little impact on the standard of living of the ordinary population. The crisis was caused by the “cotton famine” provoked by the American Civil War.
Transition to Monopoly Capitalism
The next economic crisis of the 19th century in duration exceeded all previous difficulties. Beginning in 1873 in Austria and Germany, it spread to the countries of the Old World and the United States. The crisis ended in 1878 in the UK. This period, as historians later found out, was the beginning of the transition to monopoly capitalism.
The next crisis, which happened in 1882, covered only the United States and France, and in 1890-93 economically difficulties came to Russia, Germany, France and the United States. The agrarian crisis, which lasted from the mid-seventies to the mid-nineties of the nineteenth century, also had a serious impact on all countries.
Here again one can see what characterizes the crises of the 19th century. Firstly, they were most often local, and secondly, they were repeated more often than modern ones, but they did not influence the economy and the world economy not so much.
The first crisis of the imperialist era
The first crisis of the era of imperialism happened at the very beginning of the twentieth century. The decline in production was insignificant, but it covered almost all European states and the United States. The Russian Empire was going through a difficult crisis because it coincided with crop failure.